Finding Fire
by CharTarp
Summary: When Natsu abruptly disppears, Lucy is shocked. She never realised how much she relied on her best friend. Brushing aside all common sense, she sets out to find him at any cost. But Lucy has yet to know of the huge mess to that she has been entwined, so beautifully and thouroughly- that unraveling it will be the hardest challenge of all.
1. Chapter 1

_Crack!_

Standing backed up against a tree, Lucy snapped her whip ferociously at the advancing bandits, successfully knocking them out cold. She quickly threw her hand to the side, and her _Fleuve d'étoiles_ wrapped around an enemy, the celestial mage using all of her body strength to throw him into another bandit.

Despite the breezy clothes she was wearing, sweat was running down her face from the persistency of the attacks. Wiping her brow tiredly with the back of her hand, she spared a glance around the grassy clearing.

Erza and Gray were back to back, fighting an oncoming horde of rogues, Erza swiftly incapacitating bandits with single swings of her sword, and Gray clearing out groups at a time with an ice cannon. Loke was throwing light-infused punches, eliminating almost two for every one punch.

" _Karyuu No.. Houkou!"_

Lucy's head snapped to the left, just in time to see Natsu breathing a pillar of flame across the remainder of the bandits, a wild glint in his onyx eyes. Lucy would be lying if she said she didn't see an obvious change in him when he was fighting. His eyes seemed to light up, almost brighter than his beloved flames, and he would always look so determined, no matter the importance of their task. As he finished off the last of the bandits, she looked around to see how everyone was faring. Everyone seemed to be alright, save from a few cuts and scratches. Walking up to Erza and Gray, the celestial mage let out a quick sigh. She was tired. The sooner they got back to the campsite, the better.

"Was that all of them?" Gray looked at the red-haired requip mage, asking the question the was on Lucy's mind at the time.

"I believe so." Erza stated. "Now that they're all gone, I think we should rest up report back to the mayor, then leave for Magnolia at dawn."

Rapidly nodding her head in agreement, the celestial mage started to trek back through the worn path, only giving a fraction of her mind as to wonder if any of her team were following her.

"Thanks for the help Loke," she said, gratefully. It would've taken twice as long without his help.

"Glad to be of assistance Lucy. You can always count on me!" Loke gave a flirtatious wink, then disappeared back to the spirit world. Lucy chuckled quietly and rolled her eyes at his unchanging playboy ways.

"Oi, Luce!" Lucy heard an exclamation from behind her, "Wait up!" She slowed into a leisurely walking pace, as the fire breathing mage ran up to walk beside her. Lucy saw him open his mouth, words forming, but didn't come out as something pummeled into him from behind.

The ice make mage and the dragon slayer were now somehow both collapsed on the ground, Lucy completely clueless as to why. Stifling a giggle, she looked over to Erza, who also looked bewildered.

Lucy waited for the onslaught of insults to start.

...

"What was that, you ice bastard!?"

"Calm down you flame dick!" Gray rose to his feet. "Something pushed me into you!"

"Ice Princess!"

"Squinty eyes!"

"Popsicle!"

Suddenly, Gray leapt at Natsu, and each started throwing wild punches; sure to leave some nasty bruises. Suddenly, they rolled into a nearby bush. Lucy could feel the air growing thicker around Erza, and the celestial wizard couldn't suppress a shiver from the threatining vibes leaking from the re-quip mage.

"Sorry Lucy, I'm going to have to sort these two out," Erza said, curling her armoured hand into a fist and punching the other.

By this point, Lucy was incredibly tired from the long mission, and although she pitied Natsu and Gray for what was yet to come, she just wanted to go back to the campsite and relax, maybe even finish off her latest chapter. She was a bit behind, and Levy-chan had been dying to read her newest installment!

"I'm just going to head back. I'll meet you guys there," Lucy sends a questioning look to the right, hearing muted insults and dull thuds coming from the other side of the bush. "You'd better go and stop them before there's no

"Yes! I'll see you later Lucy." Sparing the celestial wizard a short worried glance, she questions, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. I just need a rest," Lucy smiled.

With an affirming nod, the requip mage jumps into the bush. Flinching as she heard more pummeling sounds coming from her right, Lucy started to walk back, only then remembering the unknown source of the start of Gray and Natsu's brawl.

She slowly walked back over to where Gray had been standing, curiously looking around for things that could've tripped the ice mage up. After seeing nothing of particular interest, she left with the assumption that he had tripped over a stray tree root, and started to walk back down the trail. She watched her feet step- one in front of the other, and fingered the hem of her low-cut shirt, wondering if they had a bath at the hotel. Just imagining the heat was warming her up delightfully!

Wait. It's a bit too hot now…!

Lucy screeched in surprise after looking down to see flames licking at her clothes. She frantically swiped at her singed material, taking a good few extra seconds to check that there were no remaining flames. Nothing like that had ever happened before with Natsu's flame. She had just assumed he had much better control over it. Weird. She didn't give much more thought to it though, as she looked up at the wasteland that was once a beautiful forest.

There were blackened marks on what trees had actually survived the pillar of flame that was shooting into the air, and ice all over the dense foliage. Now that there was no protection from any other attacks, Lucy decided to get out of there pretty quickly, infuriated at the fact that this might cost some of her precious reward. _How would she pay her rent now?!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **Hi everyone! I'm pretty new to writing fanfiction (so new that I forgot an AN last chapter :3), and this idea just popped up randomly at some point earlier this year. I never got around to posting it until now. It would just make my day for someone to leave a review telling me what they think so far, and if the plot seems interesting enough, etc. Even just a few words would be greatly appreaciated! I'm still not 100% sure where I'm going with this book, but I'd love even just a few people to read it, and help me through. Weeeeell. My arms are really sore and I think they're going to go numbs so I'm going to keep this short now ;D**

 **Please R &R if you liked it, and maybe give me a follow or favourite if i deem worthy. ;3 **

**I need senpais to notice me */***

It was during the long and tiresome walk back to the campsite that Lucy saw the shape.

A huge dark shadow passed quickly overhead, the sound of rushing wind accompanying it as Lucy looked up in shock. It was too fast to make light of what exactly it was, and all too soon it had disappeared over the mountain on the horizon. Lucy stood still in shock and awe, not sure what to make of it as the tailwind ruffled her clothes. Staring idly into the distance, she pondered over what in Earthland that could've been.

Well, she probably wouldn't ever know unless it came back, which seemed unlikely considering she'd never seen anything like it in her life. At that moment she just desperately wanted to get back and rest, so she lightly shrugged it off, reminding herself to ask her teammates later on that night.

Lucy sat idly as she watches the flames from the campfire lick at the starry night sky. This campsite was a slight downgrade from their usual inn, and Erza's luggage was filling up one entire tent, leaving Natsu and Gray to sleep outside after the red-haired mage insisted that it was 'gentlemanly to leave the remaining shelter for the girls'. She expected someone to be back soon; her mind wandering to places it shouldn't have been in this situation.

What if she got ambushed? The blonde started to fret about all the situations that could occur, considering she was the only one there- in the dark, and all alone. She hopes that someone will come back soon!

A rustling sound came from a nearby bush, growing more violent by the second- until the bush was shaking viciously. Lucy's head snapped around, and she made a wild grab for her keys, her breathing becoming heavy as she started to hyperventilate. It's not so much being attacked she was worried about- I mean, sure, that does worry her- but not half as much as the idea of Erza's rage if her precious armour gets damaged in a raid.

Preparing to call out Taurus, the celestial mage raises her key into the air, words forming on her lips, only to be abruptly stopped when Gray comes tumbling out of the bush, holding a frozen leaf in his hand.

"Uhh.." He looks up at Lucy, as if only just realising where he was. "I…"

"Don't worry," Lucy let out a relieved sigh, letting out the breath she never noticed she was holding. "You don't have to explain." She couldn't care less what he was previously doing, as long as he was here now, and she wasn't by herself.

Gray sent her a grateful look. "Thanks." and she knew that whatever happened, he was either too embarrassed to talk about it, or had some other weird reason of being reluctant to share.

"None of my business anyway."

Extremely relieved by the company he provided, Lucy brushes her curiosity aside, and the celestial and ice make mages talk for what seems like hours on completely random matters. Their playful banter has made Lucy lose all thought about the strange flying object as she laughs at a lame joke Gray just cracked about guild halls and fences.

Erza speeds through the forest, determined not to fail in her mission. She needs to do this. For her honour! For her teammates! For her cake! She barrels into the campsite with a bag in hand, nearly rushing right through in her speed. Lucy and Gray, previously in conversation, both look up simultaneously, interested as to what's so important.

"My mission is complete." the fiery-haired mage seems to sparkle with an air of satisfaction. She drops the large bag onto the ground, and then starts rummaging through. "Aha!" she pulls a moderately sized box out, then places it on the ground near the fire. All this time Gray and Lucy have just stared in bewilderment, still completely and utterly confused. As Erza re-quips into normal clothes, grabbing the strawberry cake out of the box, and starting to eat contentedly. The blonde facepalms, while the ice make mage flops onto his back, letting out a sigh. Lucy walks over to the bag, finding something for her and Gray, then they sit in silence, ravenously eating the food they had been deprived of since breakfast.

The peaceful air is suddenly disrupted by Lucy's voice, which cuts through the silence like a knife. "Wait…. Where's Natsu?" The other mages slowly look up at her, confusion etched almost identically on their faces.

"He said that he'd go back to meet you," Erza said. "We'd assumed he'd gone out to get something when he wasn't here with you." Gray nods in agreement.

"I never saw him, and I was here since the end of the mission," the celestial mage added, unsure. As the stares of her guildmates burned holes into her, something inside of her clicked, and she couldn't control the words that started to rapidly pour from her mouth.

"Oh, sorry!" Lucy is panicking on the inside, since these words don't seem to even be coming from her. "Yeah, he did come by.. I just had a mind blank there. Haha!" Her insides are screaming as the battle for control over her body continues, but she is helpless against this unseen force, so powerful it is almost an instinct. "He told me that he'd decided to travel to Crocus with Happy, to check out a simple mission he'd seen on the board back in Magnolia."

"Really? That's weird.." Gray cut in. "The flamebrain never usually goes on missions without you Lucy. Maybe we should go over to help him. I'm sure the guild could manage without us for a whi-"

"No!" Lucy's sudden outburst surprised everyone, but maybe even herself more than others. She felt almost as if her privacy had been breached, even though she had complete control over her physical body. It felt so intimately breached that she couldn't control her growing nausea as the result of her strange actions "Uh.. I mean.. He said he would be fine. I can always go if he needs help."

"I insist Lucy, we're a tea-" Erza was yet again cut off by Lucy.

"He's fine." her voice was strong and firm. She felt so bad for snapping at her guildmates, even though she couldn't help it. For whatever reason, she- was it her at all?- did _not_ want Natsu to be found.

"Hmm. Fine. But it's weird of him to just leave like that. I still suspect that something about him leaving isn't quite right," Erza exclaimed, "But I trust your judgement Lucy."

The celestial mage sent a bright smile her way, then is shocked to realise that control is back. She tries to mention what had just happened, but for whatever reason, she is physically unable to bring the subject up. In the deep, dark recesses of her mind, she is left to wonder what's going on, and just what could've happened to her best friend.


End file.
